Being Healthy vs. Being Thin

It's now the third week of training for bicycle touring, and I am already feeling a lot fitter. The first two weeks were very difficult to get through- I felt tired all the time. But now I am recovering faster, and starting to feel a boost in my energy. My bike handling skills have gotten better as well--I am clipping in and out, climbing quite well (relatively), and rode three hours out to the beach with panniers (of course Rob takes the heavy stuff on his bike). Yay, me!

I haven't lost much weight, though. I thought I would be down about five pounds at this point. I was discouraged at first, but it has made me reflect on why I am doing this in the first place, and how important the weight loss is.

First of all, you have to ride intensely to get fit and start losing weight. In order to ride intensely, you have to build up your capacity to do so. Noodling around at 10 miles an hour isn't going to help you burn calories. So I need a few weeks to be fit enough to handle the intensity that will lead to weight loss.

Second, and more importantly, I need to keep in mind that being thin and being healthy are not the same thing. I want to be healthy. That means have a healthy heart, good lungs, some strength, and good energy throughout the day. I can be 15 lb.s overweight and have all this.

Losing 15lbs. is vanity. I don't want dimply thighs or a fat ass. I want clothes to look good on me. There is nothing wrong with this, it's just important to keep it in perspective. Judging one's health by weight alone is like judging the health of the economy by the stock market, and we all know how that goes. I've seen plenty of skinny people who drink too much, smoke too much, eat poorly, and have a high body fat percentage because they don't have any muscle. You can be skinny and unhealthy.

Of course I have some health issues that make staying thin a good idea, like type II diabetes in the family. But these health issues usually come at the border of obesity, and I am not there.

So I'm not discouraged by the scale. The weight loss will come. (My vanity cannot be shaken.) But more importantly, I have energy today! And after the months (years?) of suffering fatigue from being hypothyroid, this is heavenly. Dimply thighs or not.

Lovin' My 'Nips

Parsnips and turnips, that is.

I have been experimenting with them as alternatives to potatoes. The tastes are definitely stronger, but the consistency is satisfying. Turnips are sweet, and parsnips have a gingery taste . Parsnips are about half the calories and half the carbohydrates of potatoes, and turnips are about one-sixth!

I have cubed and roasted both of them, which was easy and yummy. Tonight I boiled and mashed the parsnips with a little butter and salt. They tasted good, but they are not as easy to mash as potatoes, because of their stringier texture. I didn't peel them- perhaps that would help. They have a higher water count, so there is no need to add liquid.

Kenpo says, "I forbid you to ever make mashed potatoes again!"

Nutrition Data for Turnips


Nutrition Data for Parsnips

Frickin'..... Yay.

O.K. So I know it's silly to get caught up on specific numbers, especially since weight is so relative. But I haven't been under 130 lbs. for 15 years.

When I first started trying to lose weight, my goal was 135lbs. Now I am 5lbs. beneath that, and my body fat is still around 30%! (give or take a few %, since the scale is not perfectly accurate.) It just goes to show how much muscle mass I have lost in 15 years.

I'm not really using weight as my primary goal now, I'm using body fat instead. I'd like to be around 20%. I don't know what weight I will be, since I am putting on muscle mass at the same time.